Winter Tires & TPMS
 

Folks - Looking for advice! Have any of you purchased winter tires & rims with TPMS from the tire rack? If so, was it a painless experience? Any issues with the TPMS? Lastly, the Tire Rack recommends a 17" winter tire... Thoughts?

My Canada geography escapes me, but I think there is a guy on here from Toronto who claims the RDX does absolutely fabulous in the winter with stock tires and wheels.

I know that isn't exactly the response you wanted, but I noticed nobody else was responding. If this doesn't help you maybe it'll give your topic a bump up the list.

You would probably call the Winter we get here in St. Louis a cold rainy day.

Sorry I could not help more.

I have not purchased tires for an RDX, in fact I don't even own one, although I almost bought one. But I have purchased tires for 20 years from the Tire Rack, oh, and wheels also. They are very good to deal with. Never had any issues.

Looking for winter tires as well. Any recommendations?

The RDX does quite well in stock rubber in winter. I was very impressed. Far better than most all seasons.

I've honestly used all sorts of winter tires. Generic Cheapo's, Blizzaks, Hancook's, Alpin's and my opinion is to buy the cheapest ones. Even the cheapest winter tires are a good step above all season tires. The Tire Rack Winterforce tires have had high ratings and they have always been very well priced. Dunlop Graspics are also rated quite well and seem reasonably priced.

I've been researching winter tires for my 2008 RDX also, my choice will be the Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow and I will be staying with the original size: 235/55HR18 on a reasonably priced alloys since I can't find steel rims for this size. I don't want a too agressive winter tire since it will be mostly on Toronto roads, I need a good balance of good snow/slush traction and an adequate dry winter traction/handling and I will definitely include the TPMS valves in the package.

To the GTA guys: any good and knowledgable tire shop in the greater Toronto area?

I don't know where some of you that say the all-season tires are good enough for Canadian winters drive, but I wholeheartedly disagree. I got the RDX in March and we got one good snow falls afterwards. The stock tires are sh*t in anything over a couple cm of snow/slush. I'm definitely going with Winter tires. I've been looking at the Bridgestone Blizzaks (LM-25 4X4 or DM-Z3) or the veteran Michelin Latitude X-Ice.

Where do you plan to buy your tires? I'm also looking at the Blizzaks (DM-Z3), but they're fairly expensive. Tirerack.com has them at 149$US each, +160$US shipping, +customs. At 1010tires.com, a canadian site, they're 225$ each + shipping.

Go see Justin at Kipling Tire, they are great guys there, and the best prices in the Toronto area. They even have a swap and store your summer tirers service.

Anyone know what size I can drop down to? I don't feel like dishing out 18" tires for winter, when I can save money on 16s or 17s. Any size recommendations for tires and rims?

Hv U bought the Pirelli's & how's it compare to stocks??? interested in getting the same thing....

After a decent winter in Boston last year...the RDX did OK on stock wheels/tires, but I just bought some 17" rims and Blizzacks and I cannot wait for winter this year! :D

16s likely won't fit. Smallest you want to go is 17". You can get wheels, tires, TPMS sensors, and mount & balance for about $1,100 through TireRack or another similar online store.

I bought some Nokian Hakka R SUV in 18". Was relatively expensive, but got excellent service from TiresByWeb. Shipping is free within the US (got them shipped to a UPS Store in a border town nearby). Also got a call to confirm the order from the shop as I went with slightly narrower than stock tires (225-60-18 vs 235-55-18).

one thing i noticed is tirerack is great, but they only balance wheels to the once, you might have to get them rebalanced. i bought tires from them it was a seamless experience except for the balancing issue. stock rdx are ok for going in the snow, they suck for stopping in the snow which is what winter tires are supposed to be there for. blizzaks are what i have and you can't go wrong with those! great snow tires highly recommended! also go with 17" rims there cheaper and work just as well

Not that I've driven on mine yet, but I'd be willing to say 17" is actually BETTER than the stock 18" for the winter. Two reasons...1: thinner tire = better contact patch for winter tires. 2: larger sidewall = less chance of rim damage if you DO happen to go sliding into a curb

What does it involve to get the TPMS working? I'm thinking of just picking up a set on eBay and have my tire shop put them in. It's far cheaper than buying it from the dealer.

as far as I know, nothing. You just need to install the correct sensors for the RDX (they run at a particular frequency). That should be all it takes.

Last year I bought 18" Toyo Open Country GO2+ tires and they were great crossing the high mountains to the coast in the snow.I did not mount them on separate rims because if the OEM rims get damaged by the winters(not if you wash them frequently) I would replace them with aftermarket ones anyways as I do not like the OEM wheels.
I have had Toyos before and they are great.I checked into bringing a package from the US , but unless you can get it shipped to a U.S. address and pick them up there, they are not likely to be cheaper.

I'm in the lower mainland so I can just hop over the border to pick them up. It's amazing how we're still getting ripped off even with the dollar at the 85 cents mark.

I finally had my winter tires installed today, I have to wait for the alloys wheels that I ordered (SSW Mesh, size:18x8; 5/114.3 bolt pattern; high offset-40mm)I didn't get the Pirelli's but I got the Toyo Open Country G-02 Plus (235/55R18 110H) instead. Initial reaction on these tires is that they are much quieter than the Toyo Garit and the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 tires on my other cars, I'm just waiting for a snowy day to give it a thorough test.

I think you'll be happy with the Toyo tires, I've had mine for 2 weeks and like them a lot. I went for the 17" tires on Montegi rims and like you, I'm waiting for the snow to fall to really try them out.

I got stock 4 new tires $ rim for 800 dollars from ebay. thinking about putting snow tires on old one or sell them.

I LIVE IN QUEBEC where winter tires are going to be mandatory as of December the 12th.
I bought Goodyear UltraGrip GW3, OEM size and mounted them on my Stock Rims. They are great on the Snow/ Slush (lot's of Traction) but shitty on Ice... These are the same tires cops have installed on their cars.

Local Garages here in MTL want no less than $1000.00 JUST FOR THE TIRES!!!
I bought them from tirerack.com, shipped them to an port forwarding address in the states and picked them up. After paying taxes at the border, shipping and etc, it costed me $775.

Just a tip to all, don't take off the traction control if you don't' know what ur doing.... But if you know how to drive, SH-AWD is AMAZING!!!

For what it's worth, I haven't gone with winter tires on the RDX yet, but I have driven on the following winter tires with other cars:

Bridgestone Blizzaks - great tires

Michelin X Ice - also fantastic

Good luck!

And to answer the main question... I had Tirerack mount my tires on to the rims along with install the TPMS sensors. I put the tires on and immediately there were reading on the dash console for pressures all around, but they were WAY off. I drove around, maybe for about 30 seconds, and it seemed to pick up the pressures and everything was fine. So you really don't need to do anything except drive the car around once installing your winter wheels.

I had the same experience. I just got a set of 17" Sport Edition CEs from Tirerack with the sensors installed. It "just worked".

-john

Hi - I'm gonna go to City Auto Tire Centre in Richmond Hill, ON. They quoted about $900 for 4 steel rims and 4 Michelin Xice2....

tpms is such a hassel

Tires
 

I spoke to acura dealer in richmond hill, ON. They recommend down size to a 17" wheels.

They quoted be $1450 + tax- for 4 Michelen winter tires+ 4 steel rims + tpms . Installation, balancing included

FWIW, these 17x7.5 Sport Edition CEs with hw for the RDX cost me $119 + $27 (TMPS) each. So that is about $584 for wheels. Not sure about how much the rubber they have on those steelies, but you can get decent winter wheels for not a huge amount.

-john

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